The present invention relates to microlens arrays, to methods of manufacturing the microlens arrays, and to optical devices and electronic apparatuses using the microlens arrays.
Microlens arrays comprising a plurality of very small lenses arranged therein have been used in, for example, liquid crystal display panels. Using a microlens array for a liquid crystal display allows lenses to focus incident light on individual pixels, thereby achieving a bright display.
For manufacturing microlens arrays, a method has been known which includes preparing a master having a pattern according to the lenses and transferring the pattern into a transparent resin. This method, however, requires a lot of equipment for preparing the master and high cost for running the equipment, and therefore cost reduction is limited.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a microlens array with a simple process, a microlens array manufactured by the method, and an optical device using the microlens array.
A method of manufacturing a microlens array according to the present invention comprises the steps of providing a first light transmitting layer precursor above a master to form a first light transmitting layer; and providing a second light transmitting layer precursor above the first light transmitting layer to form a second light transmitting layer.
The master comprises a plurality of first areas and a second area surrounding the first areas and having a lower affinity to the first light transmitting layer precursor than that of the first areas.
The first light transmitting layer is formed above the first areas but not above the second area.